Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of causing fire at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

Russian and Ukrainian authorities accused each other on Sunday of setting fire to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located in the part of Ukraine under Russian control.

Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, reported the fire, saying it had “received two hits from Ukrainian drones that allegedly caused flames in the structure.” Hours later, the spokesman for the Main Council of the Military-Civil Administration of Russia’s Zaporizhia Region, Vladimir Rogov, said the fire had been “completely extinguished,” as reported on his Telegram channel. According to Russian fontsThe attack was carried out by ‘kamikaze’ drones launched from the city of Nikopol, on the western bank of the Dnieper River.

For his part, the President of UkraineVolodymyr Zelensky has indicated that he “received news” that “the Russian occupiers have set a fire on the territory of the nuclear power plant” and, although radiation levels are within normal limits, he has assured that “as long as the Russian terrorists retain control of the nuclear power plant, the situation will not be normal and cannot be normal.” As he stated in a post on the social network X: “Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant can guarantee a return to normality and total safety.”

The plant’s six reactors are in cold shutdown, so there is no risk of any kind of steam explosion, as explained by the pro-Russian governor.

Meanwhile, after Ukrainian troops invaded the Russian region Kurskauthorities in the Belovskiy district of the Russian region urged the population to move to safer areas. In addition, the governor of the Belgorod region announced the beginning of the evacuation of the population of the Krasnoyaruzhsky district, bordering Ukraine and the Kursk region, “to safer places”.